I got my answer, but will it be accepted.

[Anonymous]

Fatherof4husbandof1 wrote:

PS Cadence off the subject but I’ve been wondering, if you put the USS Enterprise against an Imperial Battle Cruiser who has the advantage? IMO the Federation ships seem to have much better shielding than the Empire has to offer and photon torpedos against a poorly shielded ship means game over!?

Of course the federation ship wins. It is a classic good vs evil scenario 🙂

[Anonymous]

Cadence wrote:

So after some 35 years of praying, studying and straining to get any kind of spiritual insight I have finally got an answer to the nature of the church and God. The issue is it has little to do with Mormonism other that that is my life history so it steers and controls my life to some degree…Basically it has been confirmed as much as anything can be confirmed that religions in general are constructs of man and serve to do some good and some bad. To say any one individual or organization has the remotest claim to an exclusive divine mandate is in error. God if he does exist or cares does not interfere nearly to the degree that individuals would like to think. Personally I believe he exists and cares but not in a Mormon sense…Does this mean I leave the church? I think not at this point. they are still my tribe…This does not mean I believe much of anything of the foundational story and think most of it was made up, or exaggerated. Maybe not intentionally but made up still the same…The real question as my feelings continue to become known to others will they be willing to accept the fact that I employed the very process that Mormons claim you should use to find the truth, study and prayer and I got an answer very contrary to theirs. Can the average member swallow that without thinking the devil has me in his grip. We shall see.

I agree with your answer for the most part; I was hit with almost the same exact answer last January. This past year I’ve been trying to sort out what this really means as far as the implications of it and what I should really do about it. So far I haven’t come out of the closet as an “apostate” to anyone other than my wife and I’m not sure that I really want to for the simple reason that I just don’t expect most TBMs to understand or accept this point-of-view very well at all. Even if they don’t completely shun you I fully expect some members to really disrespect your unbelief and assume you are guilty of various sins that led you to this state as soon as they know you feel this way.

As far as the idea of all religions being completely man-made I’m not so sure about that. I agree that all religious organizations look like they are mostly man-made institutions that are heavily influenced by purely human ideas, opinions, traditions, etc. However, the real kicker for me was that many if not most religious sects would already admit this is the case as far not claiming any special connection to God through their current leaders other than maybe the Catholics but even they don’t expect their members to ignore, deny, or make excuses for their past mistakes like the Inquisition, the sale of indulgences, etc.

It seems like the main connection to God many churches claim is simply through their understanding and interpretation of the Bible. So even if I don’t have the same level of confidence in inspiration or revelation contained in the Bible that some claim that I should there just isn’t that much undeniable ammunition to really dispute their view as long as they aren’t extreme literal fundamentalists that believe in young earth creationism, a global flood, talking donkeys, etc. All I can really say about it is that I have my own opinion about how these stories should be interpreted. However, in our case there is no shortage of evidence and contradictions that don’t really fit with what the Church continues to tell us we should expect to be the case. So as far as I’m concerned it is a slam dunk in terms of the Church not really being what it claims to be, the only question for me is now what?

[Anonymous]

Thanks SD and Tom

Cadence wrote:

We walk the same exact path. I still think the current church is not all bad and I even can contribute to it to some degree, but I am much more at peace knowing it is not so true as it claims or at a minimum has no claim to being the one true church as it claims.

Yep, and fwiw, I personally feel that I came to my conclusion using LOGIC, REASON and the SPIRIT. I think all three of these are important and can work together. Of course, as you pointed out months ago, my answer will not be accepted by most in the church because in the church there is only one right answer to the question that is acceptable, and anything else that deviates from that one correct answer must be wrong and come from a different source.

Oh well.

[Anonymous]

DevilsAdvocate wrote:

I haven’t come out of the closet as an “apostate” to anyone other than my wife and I’m not sure that I really want to for the simple reason that I just don’t expect most TBMs to understand or accept this point-of-view very well at all.

Friendly heretic, not apostate.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the posts here. You guys provide a lot of food for thought as I am stumbling on my way trying to figure things out for myself.

[Author]

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